Roller Coaster Ride: Wins against Minnesota and Austin, disaster vs. Vancouver.

 

This season is going to be taxing.  For all the work Ben Olsen has done to transform PNC into a true Hell in the Shell, this team is still absolutely abysmal on the road.  We had the highs with the thrashing of Minnesota United in the Lamar Hunt USOC, beating Austin FC at home, and experienced the lows after getting dismantled against Vancouver on the road Wednesday night. Is this a season of highs and lows?  Will it be a year-long roller coaster home vs. away? Or, is this the beginning of what has become our annual pitfall into the abyss.  There are some signs this team is built differently than the ones we've seen over the last half decade, but to keep asking the question: is it better?

What we see at home:

Simply put, the Dynamo are the best Defensive team in the league at home.  They've given up a league-low 2 goals in 9 games, have outscored their opponents 13-2, and are 7-1-1 in the friendly confines of Shell Energy Stadium. Playing primarily in a mid-low block, taking very few risks going forward, the team is simply grinding out games consistently in front of #ForeverOrange fandom. One of their losses came with only 9 men on the field (1-0 vs. Seattle). They've made Shell more than a fortress, they are making teams not want to come to play here.......and it's not really summer.  We haven't had much to be cautiously optimistic about for a while, but this trend is a positive one. Recently, putting up 4 on Minnesota's stingy defense AND beating Broccoli F.C. felt good! While I can't foresee this team being this good at home for the entire year with all this travel and short weeks, they will remain good enough to stay in the playoff hunt.

Rough Times Ahead:

They've got one of the ingredients for making the playoffs down, but the rest of it is nowhere near ready.  Unfortunately, there's an entire load road games on short rest coming up, as The Dynamo have some brutal stretches in June and July. Only four of their next ten matches are in Houston.  Their next 6 MLS games are a meat grinder, with St. Louis (3rd best in the league @ 1.92 points/match), then back-to-back with LAFC (best in the Western Conference @ 2.08 points/match) over a 4-day stretch, and especially after a short rest with Chicago smashed in prior to it on June 6th.  There are soo many short rest weeks in June and July, before having a month off to start August.  Road games, short weeks, summer heating up, and we are about to really find out what this team is made of.

Why we shouldn't give up.....yet.

(1) Ibrahim Aliyu is good.  He's changing this attack in a positive way with his runs, his first touch, and his pace.  Opponents not only have to worry about his speed, but he also knows how to do something with it in pockets of space dropping back to the ball.  He's not only creating shots for himself and being aggressive, but he's opening up gaps for Bassi, Baird and HH as well.

(2) Corey Baird is starting to score.  There were a lot of people poo-pooing his hat trick against Minnesota, but he came back and scored a nice one against Vancouver before the wheels fell off. 

(3) This game was part of a scheduling nightmare by MLS.  To go from Houston to Vancouver on a short week is extremely harsh.  Play Saturday night -> fly 2,000 miles, play one of the best home teams in MLS ->  Vancouver is really good at home, we played terribly and looked like we had just traveled 2,000 miles on short rest.

(4) Steve Clark (minus Wednesday night) had been playing extremely well since the first two games of the year when I questioned whether or not he had anything left.   He was

Why the sky is falling.

(1) Micael has been trending downward for a couple of weeks, and played terribly on Wednesday night.  I understand why Ben Olsen is trying to get him in the lineup, because with Escobar, Bartlow, Sviatchenko, and Steres, there's not a left-footer in the lineup.  Micael at CB was even showing cracks against Austin, but he was able to make plays when needed.  Playing both Steres and Escobar at FB severely limits what you can do forward, and Escobar is better on the right side.  Micael has been getting a lot of time since Teenage got hurt, but it might be time for Sviatchenko to step in.

(2) The card situation is getting completely out of hand. While the Dynamo are actually improving in the Yellow Card situation over a year ago, the red accumulation of 4 (and don't forget about the one in the Open Cup) not only lead the league but would have been good for 3rd most in the league last year......for the entire season.  While two of them (HH's second yellow vs. Seattle & Nelson's from Saturday) were extremely petty, it's something they have to get under control. (rant about this later)

(3) The team, who had been fighting for 90 minutes in every game, flat-out quit on Wednesday night.  Not only did they quit, but to give up a goal in under 18 seconds to start BOTH halves is flat-out embarrassing.

(4) This team is winless on the road and has lost 5 of 7.  Winning on the road has been something this team simply can't do for more than a decade, and Ben Olsen has to find a way to start pulling at least 1 point from these games.

Final Thoughts:

It's a long season, there are 20+ games left, and we haven't even gotten into the heat of summer yet.  This team is set up defensively really well, and they are attacking better of late.  I think we saw some of that in the first half before they gave up a goal 18 seconds in the second half and threw things out of the window.  Wednesday night was a chaotic game where Vancouver banged the ball deep and it paid off.  Bartlow, Artur, and Escobar have logged a ton of minutes lately and were on short rest. The best thing for us, and for the team to do, is burn the Vancouver tape and never watch it again.  Let's just get ready for St. Louis on Saturday and figure out how to pull points on the road.

Final Rant:

Major League Soccer is the softest officiated league on the planet, and there is enormous inconsistency in Yellows, Reds, and sometimes even fouls.  Not only the quantity of reds given in this league are ridiculous, but the standard by which reds are given is soo low that it makes the league hard to watch.  Add to that the fact that calls are soo inconsistently given you don't even know what is a card or not.  Take Wednesday night for example.  Cordova, sitting on a yellow, toe pokes Steve Clark who had just fell on the ball.  Not only is there no card given, there's nothing given at all except a yellow to Clark who asked where the call was.  I'm not a "The Refs hate us" guy, but I am a "ProReferees are embarrassing this league and the standard of officiating has to dramatically improve" guy.  The refereeing makes games choppy, it's creating a league where diving is encouraged because of the ease in which cards are given.  While I am holding back on how all of our sports leagues have gotten ridiculously soft over the years, MLS has global standards by which to compare themselves and compete in.  I both of these areas they are currently fighting a losing battle.

Thanks again for reading,

Remember to always #HoldItDown and stay #ForeverOrange

Brian

What team is this? Houston Dynamo 3:0 Austin FC

 

I've forgotten what that feels like.

:57 seconds is all it took.  :57 seconds for Griffen Dorsey to chase down a loose ball and bang it in the back of the net.  In a sequence that both jumped on you and seemed to take forever, the Dynamo outworked, outplayed and "out-wanted" Austin's Verde for the entire first half of the game.  Both of the opening goals for La Naranja were about effort and desire.  On this night, Houston just wanted to win. They wanted it worse than Austin did.  While many of the things we saw weren't that much different than what we've seen all year, on this night things actually worked out.  We can give credit to a Darwin Quintero start, we can attribute it to a new formation, but in reality, it just came down to putting the ball on target for once.  Desperate for a win, Tab pulled out some new tricks and the guys on the pitch rewarded him for it.  Whether this is a flash in the pan, luck, or a result from putting the right guys together, hopefully, we see more of this down the stretch.

The game opened with the Dynamo in possession.  It didn't take long to notice that Tab had them in a 4-2-3-1 with Quintero in the #10.  It also didn't long for Tab's side to go right after Austin FC:

• :10 seconds in - Adam Lundqvist turns the corner on the left flank and draws a foul.
• :36 seconds in - after a quick switch by Teenage Hadebe, Lundqvist goes directly at Pochettino again, winning a throw-in in the final third.
• :40 seconds in - Lundqvist finds Darwin Quintero in the middle of the box, Quintero wriggles in between two Austin FC defenders, fires a shot on target, Brad Stuver makes a tremendous save. Quintero nutmegged 2 AFC defenders on the play in an unbelievable effort in tight space.

:57 seconds in - Griffen Dorsey outruns the entire Austin FC defense, and despite being in the worse position to get the second ball, not only wins it but blasts one on target.  Stuver gets in position to save it, but instead knocks it into the corner netting.

It was a simply awesome start to the game.  We've seen this before (Coco Carasquilla vs. Minnesota), but with Austin FC's struggling attack you had to believe there was a real chance we could finish this game off.  Austin FC fired a warning shot in the 13th minute, which was from about 25 yards out and off to the left, but it was the first threatening possession Verde had.  Lundqvist immediately went back to work, completely turning Pochetino around before getting taken down hard and drawing a Yellow on the run.  Lundqvist was directly going after Austin's right flank early in this game, which was opening up Fafa and Quintero in the middle.  That's when things really opened up.  With Austin FC trying to build an attack and pushing numbers forward, Joe Corona managed to just knock a ball loose at midfield.  Teenage Hadebe one-touch blasted it deep downfield directly in between defenders Hector Jimenez and Julio Cascante.  Fafa Picault took off, and while his speed is what led to the goal, it was really just his effort.  Cascante took a lazy path to the ball, and instead of getting there and blasting it away, he tried to control it.  Cascante took a horrible touch and Fafa raced past him and took it directly off his foot.  It was really nice to see Fafa calmly split the two defenders and just punch it past a diving Stuver as many times this year he's been in this situation and tried to take extra touches or do too much with it.  It was simple, poised execution after a great effort play and it put the Dynamo up 2:0 twenty-four minutes into the game.

Austin spent much of the rest of the half holding possession, occasionally finding ways through, and every time they did they ran into Teenage Hadebe.  Hadebe made several sliding tackles inside the box that shut down Austin attacks.  The Dynamo were playing extremely compact, extremely organized, and weren't letting anything come easy for Austin.  Every time Austin seemed to find space for a shot, there was an Orange shirt in front of it.  4 of the 6 shots Verde had in the first half were blocked by Dynamo defenders, and Michael Nelson went into the half protecting a clean sheet without even making a save.  The backline did exactly what it's needed to do all season: Keep Nelson clean.  The second goal had also allowed the Dynamo to relax and pack in on defense.  In almost every game this year the Dynamo have had to chase a second goal.  Pressing high and chasing balls all over the field for most of the first half, combined with the ridiculous heat and humidity inside BBVA has usually lead to us being worn out by half-time.  The second goal let us back off and pack in early in the game, and save legs for the second half.  

The second half saw a continuation of this theme: The Dynamo packing in and allowing Austin to hold the ball with their backline.  With Austin trying to build attacks and find cracks in the midfield, but the defense was particularly stingy in this game. Making 2 substitutions coming out for the second half to freshen up the midfield, Josh Wolff's team opened the second half with possession.  The Dynamo extended their defense just enough to not let Austin FC play between lines and force them to place accurate deep balls down the sideline. No matter where Austin passed the Dynamo defense was set and waiting. After a couple of dangerous AFC crosses into the box that found no one on the other end, Austin FC seemed to catch a break as Jimenez punched one downfield and found a streaking Cecilio Dominguez one v. one with Teenage.  Teenage not only chase him down and made a tremendous diving tackle with his back heel, he then popped the ball up to himself and fired a left-footed pass 35 yards downfield on the money to Joe Corona.  Corona corralled it, turned, and fired an excellent weighted ball to Fafa streaking down the left flank.  Fafa took one big touch, cut back inside, and fired a shot to the back post that Stuver barely got his fingertips on.  At the 52nd minute mark, Austin FC fired their first shot on target of the game.  Wade was sitting next to me screaming to pick up the man in the middle of the pitch just as they found him.  Alexander Ring, who had been very quiet up to this point, fired a perfect shot to the back post upper ninety that found a stretched-out Nelson's right hand.  The ensuing corner found a wide-open Pochetino at the back post, who slipped and had the ball bounce off his face out of bounds for a goal kick.  It seemed to be a sure-fire goal, and the Dynamo were extremely fortunate.  The game somewhat bogged down for the next ten minutes as the teams traded punches at midfield.  After Griffen Dorsey found Memo on a really nice chip pass into the teeth of Austin's backline (on a shot that went wide), Sebastian Berhalter blasted a pass downfield to a streaking Rodney Redes. Redes raced past Lundqvist and placed a perfect low cross into Dominguez who had Tim Parker beat and Michael Nelson dead to rights.  Nelson managed to knock it away, and after a deflection off the crossbar, Hadebe chased it down inside the six-yard box, turned, and fired a 40 pass downfield to Fafa.  Fafa held off his defender, let it bounce past both of them, then turned and it was off to the races.  With a numbers advantage and Urruti (middle of the field) and Memo (back post) making runs, there was a multitude of options available. Urruti looped to the outside, Fafa cut back inside, and got the ball on his right foot.  He placed it perfectly in the back-post corner and the Dynamo went up 3:0.  The fact that a team with 33% possession managed to put up 17 shots (7 on target) while holding the other team to only two shots on target the entire game was a testament to how efficient we were last night.

BBVA exploded, and so did the guys on the field.  Hadebe sprinted to the sideline just to give Tab a bear hug soo big he picked him about 3 feet up off the ground.  Hadebe was hugging everyone like we'd just won MLS cup, and you knew at that point the game was over.  If stats from WhoScored.com are right, it was our first counterattacking goal of the season and it was a beauty.  The three points were much needed.  The fanbase has been soo down, soo frustrated, and soo cantankerous that I've gotten off of Dynamo Social Media.  This game gave us a brief glimpse of what this team could do, and gave us a week of relief before we take on Frisco next Saturday.  

Darwin's first start made a difference:

I'll be one of the first to say that Darwin has been disappointing this year.  He's still one of the most accurate shooters we have, and the only person on the squad capable of making dangerous passes into the final third with any sort of regularity.  Despite his struggles this year, his 5.74 shot creating actions/90 minutes greatly outpaces anyone else on the team and would be good for fourth in MLS.  While he has yet to register a goal or assist this year (he's only played 298 minutes), he's made a noticeable difference in the Dynamo attack when he's stepped on the field, especially over the last 3 weeks.  

Darwin has only managed 9 shots the entire season, and 3 of those came last night (all of them were on target).  He looked less frantic and much more relaxed and poised than we've seen him all year, and I'm hoping he can retain this spot for the rest of the year.  Tab and Brad Davis have both said recently that the problem with Darwin all year has been fitness, and it makes me wonder what's the issue's been.  Regardless, it was nice to see him play well last night.

For the Teenage haters out there, what are you watching?

If you wonder how good Teenage Hadebe is, just watch the games, please.  Watch him turn away attackers, watch him shut down dribbles, passing lanes, and areal balls.  Watch him fire left-footed bombs on a dime, and watch him stone an attacker only to turn and fire a laser between the lines. No, we haven't been winning, and no, it's not his fault.   He was ridiculous last night and has been almost all year.  He's been worth every single penny, he's 25, and we have him for 3 more years.  That's a good thing.

Urruti's struggles continue:

Urruti hasn't registered a goal or assist in his last 10 appearances (842 minutes) and has one goal in his last 12 appearances (1,042 minutes).  He hasn't put a shot on target in the last two games (10 shots in total) and four of his last five starts.  He had three really good opportunities last night, and only one of them was particularly close.  His breakaway in the 35th minute after another great Hadebe pass downfield found him one v. one with Nick Lima, he went right-footed, left post, and it went just wide. He's been outscored by Mattias Vera (3 goals) over this span, a player who entered the year with 0 career goals.  While people are constantly saying our defense is a failure, this season would be a different story if Urruti was finding the back of the net or even putting the ball on target with more regularity. His shots/90 (3.54) is the highest mark of his career, while his Efficiency rating (37.3%) is just above his career average and a significant drop off from his mark last year (54.5%).  Urruti had a good run in May and June, scoring 5 goals in 7 games, but has yet to find the back of the net since June 26th. Not only is he not scoring, but he's also not finding teammates either.  His 1 assist in 1700 minutes is also far off his mark as a regular starter.  Urruti has worked really hard this year, he's not afraid to press or trackback, and in no way can anyone question his effort.  He just needs to be much more efficient and composed on the ball.  

We are undefeated when:

Darwin starts, there are remnants of an NCAA game left on the field, it's low 80's at kickoff, and Fafa scores a brace.  If we can just make these things happen all year, we win out (sarcasm, relax Dynamo grumps.)

Final Thoughts:

There was a lot to take away from last night.  I found it weird that it seemed soo packed getting into the game, and the concourse seemed soo busy, yet it was a mostly empty stadium.  It was also somewhat embarrassing that Austin seemed to bring more fans than we did and their supporters section drowned out our entire crowd, even when they were down 3:0.  It honestly makes me a little jealous that we don't have a following like that in our own city.  Austin is a new club and has already built a fanbase that greatly surpasses ours.  I know how hard things have been here lately, but either we support this team or we don't.  We need more people to jump on the bus. With all the negativity on Dynamo Social media, our Supporters groups threatening each other on Twitter, the Jordan out crew, and the bag over their head wearers, at some point we just have to get together and actually support this team and this city. I know I'm a different kind of guy, but I'll show up and cheer regardless of who owns this team, who sits in the GM chair, or how good/bad they are on the field.  They're my team, they'll always be my team, and I could care less about every other team in all of the American continents and all except one in Europe.  Ted Segal's greatest challenge is building an actual fanbase. There were good crowds right after he bought the team that just disappeared. I'm hoping this city comes through.

There were some nice touches again last night.  I loved turning the field orange, that was pretty great.  Hopefully, we show out for FC Frisco this weekend.  There'll be plenty of Frisco Fakes in the stadium again, and it'd be nice to have a derby feel, and maybe the guys have put something in motion here.

Thanks again for reading,

#HoldItDown and remember to stay #ForeverOrange
Brian

Houston, we have a problem: The Darwin Debacle Continues

 

He was the face of our franchise.  El Científico del Gol is a chance creator, a wizard with the ball, and a dynamic offensive player.  He has a skill set no one else on the team possesses and yet......he can't see the field.  It's left me with so many questions, many of which I don't know if they'll be answered.  Last year, Quintero was the lone bright spot in the Houston attack after the departure of Alberth Elis. He lead the team in goals and assists.  His 7 assists placed second in the league in 2019/2020, and he was passing to a bunch of guys who couldn't finish.  He was 5th on the team in minutes, made 20/22 starts, and played the full 90 eighteen times.  This year, he's managed 52 minutes in 6 games (3 appearances). How did he go from shining star to.....well....playing 52 more minutes than me?  How has he played fewer minutes than Nico Lemoine and Ariel Lassiter?  I've read reports about how his age is holding him back, but that can't be the case.  Boniek is 35, and Maynor is 38.  Both have played 5x the minutes he's played.  Think about this again.....Nico Lemoine made 1 appearance........and has played more minutes than our only designated player.  What's more concerning to me is you don't hear anyone in the organization talking about it.  Even more so, I don't hear anyone asking Tab about it.

A quick Google search netted zero results, dating all the way back to the beginning of the season.  There are some speculative reports from the preseason, but I don't see anyone directly asking Tab Ramos why the team's most influential offensive talent isn't playing.  While a lot of attention was paid to the midfield this offseason (Joe Corona and Derek Jones have been quality additions soo far) it was hard to think either of them would supplant Quintero as a starter, much less as a focal point.  Matias Vera is a nice player.  He plays hard, is a decent defender, and a smart passer but he offers little going forward.  Memo is Memo.  Memo has guts and grit and plays well.  But when he makes a play it's more from determination than skill (see his week 1 goal as example).  Rodriguez is a willing defender, but is his defending up top more valuable than what Quintero can create offensively?  I think we are at the point in the season where this question has to be asked.  I'm not going to deep dive into Memo on this one, but I do want to deep dive into Quintero's usefulness and how I think Tab is missing an opportunity.

Is Darwin as bad defensively as we think?

When the season first started, I had two trains of thought. (1) Darwin is just being held out of preseason games to keep his legs fresh.  (2) Darwin has to have some nagging injury we don't know about.  Now, things have switched to (Positive thought) We are just keeping his legs fresh for the summer and for the second half of the season. (Negative thought) He's done here and we are looking to get rid of him.  It's no secret, Tab wants to press high and defend from the front.  He wants teams to earn every inch of the pitch against his team. I've read where Quintero doesn't fit into this, but last year he had more attempted tackles (31) than Memo (26), and a higher pressure success rate (28.6% - 26.3%)  In 52 minutes this year, he has more tackles (4)  than Tyler Pasher (2) Maxi Urruti (1) and Ariel Lassiter (1). He's outperforming Pasher (28), Lassiter (30) and Christian Ramirez in the number of pressures (30) and his success rate is only slightly behind Derek Jones (30.2%) even with Lassiter (30%) and higher than Fafa Picault (28%).  I'm fully aware that Darwin isn't a defensive stalworth, but he's outperforming guys in this area who can't come close to what he brings offensively.  Darwin isn't great at getting his foot on the ball, he's not great at chasing down balls and getting recoveries, but he's also (historically) on par with others that are playing in front of him.  So truthfully, the answer is we lose some defensively if we switch him out with Memo. We lose a lot if he takes minutes from Corona, Vera, or Jones.  

How effective is Quintero offensively?

Do we really need stats to back this up?  The answer is, at creating goal-scoring chances: extremely. If you look at the top five players creating goal-scoring chances from last year, he was #1 by a pretty decent margin. His goal-scoring actions off of Live Passes was #2 in the league (80) and only 8 behind leader Alejandro Pozuelo and 20 more than third-place Christian Espinoza. His number this year is actually higher than last year despite his limited playing time.  End of the day, he's the best shot creator in MLS.  Not only do our eyes back it up, the data does too.

Last Year's Team - Comparable Statistics. 

2021 Possession and Goal/Shot Creation Stats.

Even though Memo has really improved in that area this year, and the addition of Tyler Pasher has added another layer, neither can produce these actions at the level of Darwin Quintero.  The Dynamo are actually down 4 shot-creating (23 in 2020 vs 19 in 2021) actions per game with Darwin out of the lineup, and with an offense as anemic as they have had this year they could use those extra chances. The Dynamo have gone from ranking 5th in Shots/90 in 2020 to 20th this year.  Without Quintero's creative playmaking ability, the Dynamo offense is at times stagnant.  Tabs system is a timing-based, ball movement and people movement attack.  It requires crisp passing and well-timed/executed runs.  As some guys (Vera, Corona, Memo) are logging heavy minutes, that movement and crispness have fallen off at times.  It's hard to run to open space AND defend the length of the pitch for 90 minutes every game.  Quintero can help take the pressure off of this by simply utilizing space, finding his way through the defense, and allowing tired legs to get through.  

Many times this year we've seen Fafa or Pasher streaking the flank with the ball, only to  yell "Somebody get with him!" It's my buddy Wade's rallying cry during games.  While Quintero doesn't help with this, he gives a second layer to that attack.  He helps open up the pull-back pass.  He helps to create up the middle through the teeth of the defense where your only option isn't hoping that Fafa can just outrun everybody.  He helps balance out the "lob it into 5'8 Memo or 5'6" Vera" attack we see at times. He gives the attack another dimension.

How bad has it gotten?

There was one interview where this was topic was brought up recently.  It was an interview that Darwin did with Jorge Clará from Deporte Total USA.  Not sure how many of you saw it, and if you're a Spanish speaker click the link and tell me if I got this wrong. Now, admittedly, I speak zero Spanish and I'm relying on translations, but things seem unlikely to turn around in terms of playing time.  Darwin said that he understands he doesn't fit what Tab is trying to do from the wing.  His size and two-way ability are lacking compared to the others on the team.  He said the locker room is good, and he has a good relationship with Tab, but that if he isn't playing as a starter or as a sub that he would have to sit down with the team at the next transfer window.  There were also reports that he had told Tab that if he wasn't in the plans for Saturday against Colorado, he'd rather not make the trip.  These aren't good circumstances, and while I understand that Tab is trying to win through building up the defense, leaving your most efficient creator on the bench is creating a bad situation.  I know that Darwin is 33, but using him as a situational starter, or flipping roles with Memo needs to be considered.

Why is this important?

Don't let the "He's the only DP" language distract you.  Yes, that's important.  But Urruti and Parker make DP money, they just don't have the tag.  Christian Ramirez almost makes DP money too, and Fafa makes more than Elis did (who was labeled a young DP).  Personally, I think the DP tag is stupid and needs to be gotten rid of, but that's a whole other topic.  However, if you're treating your only Designated player this way, why would anyone else want to come here under that label?  You're running the risk of running guys away before they even sign, and then you have to look for "Potential DP's" (i.e. Alberth Elis and Mauro Monatas).  We are pretty much down that road already.  But......this is professional sports.  Word gets around, and while we have made a habit of signing guys who are from small leagues in South America on frees, is that really how we want to continue in perpetuity?

I'm a coach myself, and by no means am I suggesting that you play a guy simply because of a label.  I believe in playing guys that give you the best chance to win regardless of reputation or label.  We know that some players don't fit certain systems, and being that Darwin is on the wrong side of 30, and is severely undersized, this could be a bad fit for him.  However, he's still the best option you've got at creating something out of nothing.  He's still one of the best the league has, and you have to find a role for him somewhere on this team.  

It matters organizationally long term.  If we ever want another player of his caliber, we have to treat him with the respect that he's due.

Summary:

I find it shockingly absurd that the Dynamo played 3 games in 8 days against solid opponents and Darwin managed to not make the rotation.  I don't understand how, in a desperate need to rotate the squad, (with Tyler Pasher out of action for the entire swing) Darwin DNP'd in two games and managed only 7 minutes as a sub in the first game.  I don't understand how Pasher goes down to injury, and Darwin gets less playing time.  I completely don't understand why Ariel Lassiter is the first man off the bench in many games. And even though they play different positions, how do Jose Bizama, Darwin Ceren, Alejandro Fuenmayor, Christian Ramirez, and Nico Limoine all have more minutes than Quintero?  This team could use an offensive spark.  They don't have to look for the summer transfer window to get it.  They don't have to look for Free Agents hanging around after this season is over in Europe (even though they need to dig through that junk drawer).  They have that spark on the bench and just need to figure out how to utilize it.

Thanks again for reading,

#HoldItDown and stay #ForeverOrange.

Brian

Colorado Rapids : Houston Dynamo - Recap

I had a bad feeling about this one before we every got started. The Rapids are a decent squad, and being that we were playing our 3rd game in 8 days while Colorado had 7 days in between two games at home it was going to have to be perfect.  With some positions aging, the lack of oxygen up in the Denver area, and being the Dynamo were also going to be without our coach (Thanks for that red again.....Penso) I was holding out hope we could at least hold onto a point here on the road.  When I saw the opening lineups and formation, I was pretty worried about it. 5 new starters, a formation I've never seen us play, and some of these guys haven't seen the field all year. I can't even remember the last time I saw Nico Lemoine play (much less start). I was curious to see what Alejandro Fuenmayor would looked like, same with José Bizama.  I really thought that starting with (basically) a back five would help keep us solid in defense, maybe we could keep them off the scoreboard, and maybe Ramirez could sneak one in for us. Colorado was coming into the game scoring only 5 goals in 4 games but was the more rested team.  Colorado is a good team, Kellyn Acosta, Sam Vines, and Michael Barrios are really good players, and although we hadn't lost to them in 5 straight games dating back to 2018, I didn't think this was a good situation.

It didn't take long to see this was going to be bad.  Colorado found cracks in the early going and completely destroyed us from minute 10-45.  The first half was awful defensively, Marco Meric had 10 good minutes then fell apart, and we didn't generate a single shot for 27 minutes.  It wasn't until Adam Lundkvist blasted one on target from about 40 yards out that we finally tested William Yarbrough.  What happened directly after this pretty much sums up the game.  Yarbrough hit Barrios on a dime about 70 yards downfield, who in turn left one in a gaping chasm right in front of the goal.  On a ball that seemed like it was in slow motion, and took about 5 hops to get there, Sam Vines blasted it in the top right corner.  What's most disappointing about it was no one reacted until after the ball was in the back of the net.  The second one 7 minutes later showed how much Alejandro Fuenmayor needs to grow to be a full-time defender.  When Christian Ramirez pulled one back soon after, you kinda thought we had a puncher's chance.  But Marko Marić's mistake was just unbelievable and deflating.

The second half was much better, and I actually felt like we were the better team for much of the half, but it was all for naught as we couldn't close the score down.  There was a lot working against us in this game, but good teams have to be able to overcome those things.  It's kind of a sign of where we are right now.  Our best 11 aren't bad, and are actually pretty solid defensively.  We have little depth, and if we have to rotate the squad it means trouble. While it's not all fire and brimstone, and you just have to chalk it up to Colorado being the better team on this night, there are some things you can take away from this game.

Alejandro Fuenmayor is not the answer:

Not with the way he played on Saturday night. He had several bad moments, including whiffing on a cross soo bad he did a 360 and fell on his rear end.  He got beat soo badly on the second goal, Tim Parker threw up his hands in frustration. Fuenmayor didn't even bother to fight for that ball. While his stat line reads 8 interceptions, 6 clearances, and 9 recoveries he was beaten several times and was out of position or not moving often.  While we need another center back, Fuenmayor might need to move on.  I've been asking for him for two years, but I wasn't impressed by his performance against the Rapids.

Remember when I said Marić's distribution would come back to bite us?

Yeah, not a lot of commentary on that, and the bad news is there's more to come.  While he was slightly better in the two previous games this gaff was inexcusable. 

Bajamich looked ok:

Not a glowing endorsement here, but Bajamich has a little something.  Had a couple of nice runs and a really nice back heel on a play that he was called offsides on.  He looks a little green, but between he, Lemoine, and Lassiter, I'll take Bajamich from the 30 minutes I've seen right now.  I'm hoping he earned a little more time.  He basically outperformed Lemoine in 1/2 the minutes statistcally.

I'm interested in seeing more Bizama:

I'm not a huge fan of Zarek Valentine, but not knowing what's behind him it's been hard to clamor for someone else.  I thought Bizama was decent, but I don't know he possesses the deep passing ability that Valentine flashes at times.  Both of these guys are limited, but I think Bizama earned at least another look.

We need Tyler Pasher back so we can stop seeing Memo on the wing.

Memo isn't fast enough to play there in Tab's system, he doesn't cross particularly well, and he can't cut back inside to his right foot.  While Memo is a decent defender, there was a noticeable difference when Fafa Picault came on for him.

Sorry this is a quick one, not a lot to say after that one.  I'm hoping this is an aberration, and not the norm going forward.

Thanks again for reading,

#HoldItDown and stay #ForeverOrange.

Dynamo vs. Sporting KC - A hard earned and well deserved three points.

 

It wasn't pretty, but we'll take it:

Before the game, Jimmy Mack from SBC Nation wrote:

Houston always gave Sporting KC fits in years past due to their speed. With winger Alberth Elis no longer in the picture, who is Houston’s primary offensive weapon and do they have the speed they used to?

Former Sporting KC man Tyler Pasher has been a revelation for the Dynamo so far this season on the wing. He missed Saturday’s Texas Derby with an injury, but Tab Ramos has suggested he will be available against SKC. I would look for the Canadian to come off the bench, with Fafa Picault and Memo Rodriguez likely on the wings. Picault has loads of pace to make up for the speed Elis had, but his other abilities aren’t as refined as La Panterita.

You could tell from the announcement of the starting lineups that this was going to be an ugly game. With Pasher out yet again and Memo on the wing, the Dynamo have very little punch going forward.  Tab instituted Derrick Jones again in the midfield. Once Johnny Russell went down, you kind of expected the free-flowing nature of this game to disappear.  This was an old-school boxing match, designed to go the full 12 rounds.  The teams were testing each other out, throwing jabs, but looking to drop that haymaker when the defense was down.  As the game set in, Sporting set in high and compact daring the Dynamo to try to beat them deep. Urruti nearly cracked them open in the 3rd minute of the game but was caught just offside.  The Dyanmo were trying to draw them out and kept pulling the ball back into their own half trying to stretch KC enough to find Memo or Joe Corona in the pocket between lines. One minute later, Derrick Jones turned a well-timed interception into a fast break the other way.  Fafa got in behind Luis Martens and fired a shot to the back post.  Houston finally landed one but spent plenty of time rope-a-doping in the corner absorbing and deflecting body blows to get it.   The first big shot came just before the 10:00 mark when Tim Parker narrowly missed the goal off Joe Corona's cross.  A large portion of the first half was played in the midfield. It turned into a tactical defensive half that resembled something out of Serie A.  It was a slow-paced game, with both teams really trying to find a way through.  Houston began finding Urruti in the wide areas to the right of the box, cutting Fafa and Memo back inside.  While Urruti got a couple of decent crosses off, it wasn't really posing a danger.  Urruti lobbing balls into Vera and Picault isn't ideal, but we were finding cracks and slipping through.  

The move to Figueroa in the second half was a smart tactical decision.  Maynor has a good leg and decent accuracy on the deep ball. Figuroa hit several guys through the lines in the opening minutes, and the Dynamo began to look a little more dangerous and controlled at the same time. He opened the second half with a blasted diagonal to Fafa that found it's mark. Fafa should have made it 2-0 after an amazing deep ball by Zarek Valentine.  Fafa was the most active player out there by far, and his work rate was tremendous all the way through the 95th minute. In the end, we sealed all the cracks uptight for the last 25 minutes of the game.  KC wasn't much of a threat, especially after they pulled Pulido off.  There was some late-game controversy, the game got a little chippy, and when the whistle blew people actually booed thinking it was another bad call. There was a wave of relief when it was finally all over, and we were happy to walk out of that with 3 well-earned points.

Jones and Vera spearheaded the win.

Derrick Jones (5 tackles, 1 Interception, 1 assist) was standout in his performance.  Jones is best known for his defensive capabilities and has been searching to find footing in Tab's system and rotation.  While his pass to Urruti for the goal is what everyone will look back to, what no one's talking about is how he just took the ball from Gadi Kenda before he dribbled split two KC defenders and found Urruti in the slot.  The play seemed to develop at a snail's pace live but turned out to be perfectly timed.  Jones led the Dynamo with 4 players dribbled past, and he really made life difficult for Gadi Kinda and Gianluca Busio.  While Marić was named man of the Match, Jones was the most noticeable player in the field.

Vera was flying around making plays all over the field, and even when he wasn't making the play he forced several mistakes by Sporting players just through effort.  While he only gets credit for 1 tackle and 3 interceptions, he forced several mistakes that he didn't get credit for.  He won 3 fouls, he was aggressive with his runs, and he was a 90% passer once again.  Vera is a solid, calming player for us.  He's not upper echelon MLS, but he works hard and gets the job done every single game.  He chased down Khiry Shelton in minute 77 to knock away a chance at a counterattack. He just turns in 90 solid minutes every game out right now.

The best game by the fullbacks yet.

It only took Zarek Valentine 3 seconds to intercept a pass and find Maxi Urruti downfield. He turned another downfield lob away only a minute later. While neither were spectacular, they did exactly what needed to be done.  There weren't many positioning mistakes, and they didn't try to do too much.  They played tonight like I've been asking them to play all year: Just doing their job, and not trying to do too much.  It's an addition/reduction reaction.  When they extend themselves, they hurt those around them.  Valentine (0 Tackles, 1 interception, 6 clearances) also fired a pass downfield which should have ended the pains in my intestine over the last 15 minutes of play but Fafa just couldn't finish off the play.

Lundkvist (2 tackles, 0 interceptions, 4 clearances) has been really bad at times this year, but last night he just played things easy and simple.  He didn't try to make difficult plays or passes, he just played things solid and simple.   That's part of why we were able to keep a clean sheet.  It helped him greatly when Russell went down, but regardless he was where he needed to be and did what he needed to do to help us win.  Don't take this as too big of a compliment from these two.  But if they can play like this week in - week out our defense has a real chance.

Marko Marić earned his clean sheet.

While he only gets official credit for 4 saves, Marco was exactly where he needed to be. The diving slide tackle he made at the 47th minute that ended up deflecting around and landing in Valentine's lap was great.  His 1 v 1 save vs Daniel Saloi in the 50th minute was about anticipation, timing, and being a big target. Marco got low and was able to block the ball with his foot as it came between his legs.  This was probably the best defense that Marić had in front of him to date, but he made plays when he needed to.  He had a diving stop on Pulido's only clean look of the game. The blast in the 65th minute was a laser into the upper right corner, but Marić got both hands on it and knocked it away.  I understand that Marco has limitations, but he's been really solid back there so far this year and is much improved over last year.  I'd like to see him lay on the ball a little more in late-game situations though.  With a one-goal lead and 10 minutes left, he was in far too much a hurry. 

Fafa came to play, but he has to finish off possessions better.

You saw it early in the game.  In the first five minutes, Fafa was extremely active up and down the right touchline.  Tracking back on defense, and making runs down the wing, he was the spark plug early on.  Fafa had a good night, but not a great one.  He made impacts in the press (3 tackles, 2 Interceptions), the counter-attack, and by flat outrunning Kansas City several times, especially late in the game.  He had several crosses on target, but the problem was Vera or Memo were often on the other end of them. He blew right Martens (with the help of a tremendous through ball by Jones) in the 64th minute and found a wide-open Memo on the run at the back post.  Memo botched the header, and he had time to control it and take a shot.

Fafa was having trouble staying onside.  6 offsides in one match is too much for anyone and add to that the three fouls he committed.  Those are aggressive mistakes, however, and I'll take it.  Fafa knew he could beat Sporting KC with his speed, and he was actively trying to do so.  He dominated the right-wing in the second half. Martens had no answers for him. It was in the 74th minute when he found himself alone with John Pulskamp, and left it too far left and too far in front of Ramirez.  He won a key ball in the 83rd minute, deep in the attacking third, but fired it out of bounds when Ramirez was down after a Pulskamp elbow to the back of the head on a jump ball.  He had a big run in the 87th minute. We all know what happened in the 88th minute, when he had an angle on Martens and instead to a forearm to the back and lost the ball.  He won a ball and blew out of the Defending third in the 90th minute.  He looked tired, but he was still moving faster than anyone else on the pitch all the way through the 95th minute.  He wasn't great, he missed some easy plays, but he definitely came to play and had an impact on the wi.

Final Thoughts:

Dear Tab, if you get fined for this, start a GoFundMe, we'll get your back.  The linesman on the near sideline was simply awful.  There were several questionable calls over the last ten minutes (i.e. the foul called against Fafa, then the no-call on Fafa, and a couple of out-of-bounds calls) that seemed to boil things over.  Then to get red-carded for being upset about it is ludicrous.   As a coach (although in a different sport), I understand that sometimes you just have to stand up for your guys.  I didn't think anything Tab did warranted a red.  On the replay, it looks like all he said is "Hey! You're right here" and pointed at the spot. It should have been a no-brainer foul.  It could have been a Yellow because he made no attempt at the ball.  Instead, our coach gets tossed.  In fact, it happened soo fast I almost missed it.  I looked to the video replay boar to see what happened on the Fafa tackle, and how that was possibly a KC throw-in, I looked back, saw Tab with his hands up, and immediately saw Chris Penso flashing red.  Wade Dowden loves to talk about how much Penso hates us, I actually thought it was a fairly decently called game until about the 90'th minute.  Then the wheels fell off.  Right after that Fafa made another run that obviously deflected off Martens, but instead, KC got the throw-in.  There was a really bad foul call in the 95th minute. As Tab said in the post-game, I'm sure the Dynamo will get a letter of apology, how about we just get better officials? 

Lastly, I do have to question why (in a game where we are clinging to a 1-0 lead) we left two subs unused.  Why did we not turn to Darwin Quintero at all?  Joe Corona looked exhausted after the 70th minute and Memo has logged heavy minutes this week.  With another game Saturday, why would we not get some fresh legs out there?  I understand that playing the final few minutes without Tab might have disrupted substitution plans, but at the same point, we have to have a rotation better prepared.  This is two games in a row where we have gone into the 80th minute with subs available in a close game.  With 3 games in 8 days, and mostly using the same starting 11, I feel the rotations could have been better.  That being said, we played Frisco and The Wiz (I still think this game is cooler than Sporting KC) and ended with 4 points.  Even though it's fun to play armchair coach, I'll take the results so far.

Stat Notes

• The Dynamo are currently 8-6-3 (30 points in 17 games) at BBVA dating back to August 2019.  
• Despite being undefeated at home, the Dynamo have a negative expected goal differential (-0.5) at BBVA.  
• Marco Marić currently ranks 8th in Shots on Target against, is tied for 7th in Goals Against per 90, and is tied for 9th in Save Percentage among qualifiers. He's been very solid, and one of the reasons why the Dynamo have drastically dropped their GA average this year.  He's performing as a top ten keeper in goal, and his distribution has slightly improved the last two games. It's not hard, he's been awful through the first five in that department. Marco's completion % is 4th worst among all MLS goalkeepers, and his distance per kick is 3rd highest.  He needs to be quicker, and find better options after recovery.
• Fafa Picault ranks 4th in the number of times failed to dribble past an opponent in the final third (16).  Fafa is lightning quick, but his slight build means he's often knocked off the ball or knocked down.  He's drawing attention, but he has to improve in this area and either pass and run, or use his angles and speed better.
• Max Urruti currently ranks 150th in the league in times Targeted with a pass (132).  That ranks him just behind Adam Lundkvist (134) and Joe Corona (158) as well as Memo (160) and Fafa (187 - 42nd in the league).
• This isn't a stat, but this is my favorite Tweet of the year so far.
  
  
  
  

Next Up:

Colorado @ Dick's Sporting Goods Park.

Thanks again for reading

#Hold it down and stay #ForeverOrange

Dynamo vs. Frisco - Recap

 

So, to all the readers out there, I have a confession to make.   I'm not a lifelong Dynamo fan, I was late to the bus.  I grew up in North Richland Hills, nestled in between Dallas and Ft. Worth, and I'm a lover of (almost) all things Dallas.  Growing up, it was all Cowboys, Mavericks, and Rangers, then we latched on to the Stars when they came.  It was also the Dallas Sidekicks of the old MISL, and we all wanted to be Tatoo. I was super excited when we were chosen to get an MLS team, and I fired up the popcorn and turned it to whichever UHF channel the Dallas Burn were playing the San Jose Earthquake on.  What I saw, was terrible and boring soccer. I tried really hard to get into that team, but I just never could.  

When I moved to Houston in March of 2009, I decided I needed to latch onto a team from here.  There was no way I was giving up my Mavericks, the Cowboys, or the Rangers.  I had spent 32 years of my life loving these teams, and too much time (and money) in those stadiums.  Around 2001, I had completely stopped following MLS except for the occasional check of the box scores.  When I got married, I needed something to connect with my stepsons about as well.  One was a big Dynamo fan, so I chose to give them a try.  It wasn't love at first sight, but it was love at first sight of Alberth Elis.  I know I talk about him a lot on here, but I loved watching La Pantera play.  I decided to start getting tickets and start taking my stepson to some games, and I completely fell for this team.  The point in all of this is, it's hard for me to hate Dallas-based teams, but I gladly support the distaste for Frisco coming out of Houston.  I may have been late to the party, but now I wanna be in this party like Frank the Tank.

Anyway.....ON TO THE GAME!

Before that....

Is it too much to ask that we get a game broadcast on an English channel?  I have an SAP button, it for some reason never works.  I understand 3 languages, none of them are Spanish, and it's extremely infuriating that we are playing any game, much less playing against FC Fisco Burn, and I can't understand a single word of the broadcast. I finally found it on Twitter, but why do I have to watch the game on my phone to hear the English broadcast?  It's a Saturday afternoon game.  Why isn't this on Quest?  Why did Fox only pick up El Traffico (trash by the way)?  Also, to all of MLS, is it too much to ask that we start the game relatively on time?  It says the game starts at 2:30, it's currently 2:48 and the game still hasn't started.  As a person who stresses over punctuality and is somewhat OCD, this wears me out.  I totally don't understand.

Ramos Rotates the squad.

Not many differences in the lineup today.  Maynor Figueroa gets the start, Derrick Jones gets a start at the 6, moving Joe Corona as a quasi-10 and moving Memo right wing.  With 3 games coming in 8 days, Ramos had to give some guys a break.  Boniek can't play the minutes over that side, and Figueroa is a nice move.  Would have loved to see Ethan Bartlow here, but I understand how Tab wants a left-foot dominant player on the left side.  Bajamich and Bizama made the squad, and Pasher (the only player who's had a hand in all of the Dynamo goals this year) was left out.  It seemed like the Tab was trying to play clean sheet ball here because I don't know why else you'd push Joe Corona up behind Urruti and leave Darwin Quintero on the bench.  I don't like Memo on the wing, but I like him more than Ariel Lassiter, and at this point, all I can think is that if Mateo Bajamich is this much worse than Ariel Lassiter, we wasted $1.2 Million in the transfer market.  I'll chalk it up to James Harden money.  

The first thirty minutes were ug-uh-ly:

It seemed like the game was going to go gangbusters from the kick.  With both teams coming out aggressively, and Maxi Urruti winning a foul deep in Dallas Territory 0:19 in.  Maynor blasted it, and it wasn't a serious threat, but you felt like that was going to set a tone.  It didn't. Seriously, the first 1/3rd this game looked like a pee wee game.  There were packs of guys running around turning the ball to each other.  Even Eddie Robinson said during the broadcast "it's just kind of been ugly and boring.  Tanner Tessmann's lobbed through ball to Andrés Ricaurte at the 27-minute mark began to open things up.  Ricaurte got a good head on the ball, and Marco Meric made a nice diving save.  

That all changed with a fortunate pinky:

The Dynamo were trying to answer back after Frisco had found their way through.  After some ping pong action and a decent build-up, Memo fired in a cross to Joe Corona who had found space directly in front of the 6-yard box.  Corona's header deflected off Bressnan's hand, and the Dynamo had won their first penalty of the season.  Phelipe guessed wrong, Fafa Picault hit it true, and the Dynamo were up 1-0.  The Dynamo really pulled back after this.  Urruti, Memo, and Fafa sat back in their own half and allowed Dallas possession with their backline.  Tab basically dared Luchi Gonzalez's side to build an attack, and after seeing Franco Jara trying to finish I don't blame him.  The problem is we lose all opportunities to attack when we play this way.  Without Quintero, we can't build an attack either.  Dallas began finding cracks and Jáder Rafael Obrian's chance with just under ten minutes left in the first half went just off the side net.  Houston immediately knocked back, as Mattias Vera found a wide-open Urruti inside the box.  Urruti fired a left-footed banger that was deflected by a Frisco defender, and Memo fired the rebound back only to it turned away as well. Derrick Jones eventually won this ball back and a foul from about 25 yards out.  From minutes 32-40, the most exciting moment was when the Announcer screamed "PENALTY GIVEN.....oh, no wait.....that's offside." on a corner that was called off because the ball went out of play.  

Then things changed.   At the 40 minute mark, Vera had given away a free-kick at the 30-yard mark.  The free-kick and the following shot were no threat, the Dynamo had posted a wall of eight men in front of the goal, and Valentine put a good block on it.  The rebound found  Ryan Hollingshead, fired a diagonal across the field.  Lundqvist didn't see him a streaking Freddy Vargas who completely blew by him.  Vargas fired one across the goal and Meric just barely got a hand on the ball. Nobody chased Obrian on the back side, he was the only man to the ball, and the game is now level.  It seemed like Meric was the only person who was fighting to keep this ball out of the net, and both Fullbacks got beat on this play.

The second half was a sloppy snoozefest:

I actually went back and watched it to make sure.  I was right the first time. Outside of a few decent chances, the game never really turned. Urruti had a nice run and a decent strike on a ball early in the first half, but there wasn't much here.  This was a disappointing and frustrating game because it didn't seem like we were ever pushing for a goal.  Not only were we sitting back, but in a game where we are struggling Tab's first sub is.....Darwin Ceren? At the 72nd minute?   Then we don't sub again until the 84th minute?  What in the world Tab?  Like serious man (I know he doesn't actually read this, I'm venting), we'd like 3 points here.  Can we please put on the only guy we have on our roster that can break a defense down?  I don't understand why Quintero is on the bench in the first place, much less on the bench until the 84th minute against a really poor FC Dallas team.  This is a game we should have won, but it seemed like Tab was more worried about wearing the guys out for Wednesday than he was about winning today.  We can't take games for granted like this.  I've been really excited about Tab being here, I've given him plenty of credit, but I was really disappointed in him today.  This wasn't a winning lineup or mentality.

Derrick Jones' first start was decent, but he has to improve his passing:

Honestly, at first glimpse, I thought Jones was terrible.  I was focused on the couple of times he fired balls into the sideline while generally under no pressure.  At second glance, he won some headers, drew some fouls, and got his feet on some interceptions.  He's big, he's athletic, and he's a solid defender.  Should be a decent mix with him, Corona, and Vera.  Not saying he was terrific, but he was decently solid.  Was actually the Dynamo's highest-rated player according to WhoScored.com.

Meric secured the point.

He did it last week, he did it this week.  He's playing really well in goal, and his distribution began to look better when he was throwing out instead of booting it into the stands.  His distribution is suspect, his goaltending hasn't been.

https://twitter.com/HoustonDynamo/status/1391142983467212802?s=20

After being encouraged for two weeks, and confused last week, I felt like we moved backward this week.

This game was just bad.  It looked bad, the attack looked sloppy, and we just didn't look crisp.  I felt like we should have sat back less, and sought out the second goal.  Despite all their speed, the Dallas Burn don't have much in terms of quality finishers.  Darwin Quintero should have come on much earlier, and we need to find ways to get him the ball in space.  At this point, I don't care if that's on the wing or behind Urruti, just get him the ball in space.  Fafa played well, it was good to see Maynor out there and he held up, but I was really disappointed in today.  

That being said, never turn down a point on the road.

Thanks again for reading, 

#HoldItDown and stay #ForeverOrange.

Brian